Cargo Description: The hold was full of cedar posts, and telegraph poles were on her deck.

Length: 131.80

Beam: 28.40

Depth of Hold: 11.10

Hull Material: wood

Gross Tonnage: 258.17

Propulsion Type: sail

Number of Masts: 2

Rig Type: schooner

Vessel

Location

Body of Water: Lake Michigan

County: Milwaukee

Latitude: N 43° 21.555'

Longitude: W 087° 38.554'

Vessel

Builder

Registry Number: 4344

Builder: F.N. Jones

Year Built: 1855

Location Built: Buffalo, New York

Owners: Capt. Willetts (1/3rd owner); Kirth Brothers (Chicago)

Service History

The two masted schooner Collingwood had been rebuilt several times, two of which were major repairs in 1863 and 1870. At one time she may have been registered in Canada. The Collingwood had a capcity for 250,000 feet of lumber and was valued at $2,500.

"When she first came out she was considered the finest modeled vessel on the lakes and for a long time was called the 'crack' schooner of the lakes. She was engaged for several seasons in the grain trade between Chicago and Buffalo. She has not had a rating since 1879 and was therefore not insurable... She was entirely unseaworthy and was considered among sailors as a floating coffin." The Republican Sentinel, November 26,1882, page 5.

Last Document of Enrollment Surrendered: Chicago: 12/15/1882: "Wrecked in Lake Michigan in 1882".

Final Voyage

On Thursday night, November 23, 1882, the schooner Collingwood, loaded with cedar posts and telegraph poles from St. Helena and bound for Chicago, waterlogged and foundered some 25 miles northeast of Milwaukee. As she foundered, her cabin was washed off, her spars went out of her, the centerboard chain broke, and she parted in the center. The captain and three crewmen perished, last seen floating with cedar posts under their arms. The remaining crew of 4 managed to get onto a makeshift raft, 1 later died, after 31 hours the remaining three were rescued by the propeller Wisconsin 25 miles off of Grand Haven.

The hull of the Collingwood according to one account came ashore at a later time. Door County Advocate, November, 1882.